Transition Taster Evening – Thursday 5th October 2017

Thursday evening we welcomed 70 parents for an evening taster session in English, Maths and Science. It was with some trepidation that parents signed in – you could see their worried faces!

After a quick introduction by Mr Brown and Ms Hayford about the evening parents were straight into their groups and off to their first session. Each session lasted approximately 25 minutes and they gained an insight into the lessons that their daughters take part in daily. There was a focus on the structure, new techniques they might not have seen and of course ‘playing with fire’ in the science labs!

English:

Parents were introduced to a typical poetry analysis lesson focusing on connotations and metaphor within the poem ‘The Sea’ in which the poet compares a rough sea to a grey, growling dog. The lesson incorporated Red, Amber, Green ratings and activities used to show the differentiation employed in lessons. We discussed ways in which parents can support their daughters: reading with them, creating revision maps and most importantly, getting their daughter to teach them what they learnt in English that week.

Maths:

In maths, parents were given the opportunity to experience a real maths lesson. What their daughters will see on entering a maths lesson, what equipment they might be using, in this case they used mini whiteboards to communicate ideas to the teacher. They worked on solving ratio problems using the bar model technique. A technique that we have only started using in recent years which helps students understand what is going on by using a diagram.

Science:

Parents were introduced to chemical reactions and how Year 7 students identify some of the signs of a chemical change. Bunsen Burners were used to heat samples and parents were asked to record their observations. The second part of the science lesson parents had a taster of Biology. They were asked to name different parts of the skeletal and respiratory systems in a fun relay game where teams competed against each other.

There are more photos on the website and parents will be pleased to know that they all earned reward points for their daughters.

Finally I would like to share just a few of the comments from the evening:

Great insight into innovative approaches to teaching and learning at Blackfen. Thank you!